Playing with Letters

A few days ago, my daughter and I played with letters.

My mom gave me a set of laminated pages, with large upper case letters on them.
I rolled out pink play dough into long, rounded strips.

We began our lesson by identifying the letters. If she was unsure about a letter, I told her its name and then asked her "What letter is this?" We repeated the process until she could correctly identify the letter.

Then I asked my three-year-old to trace each letter with her finger, carefully guiding her to trace each line in the same way she would write the letter. [For example: an L would be traced from top to bottom, then from left to right.]

Next, she arranged the play dough strips to form each letter. Her favorite part of this was using a play tool to cut the extra length off the ends of the strips.

Afterward, I would ask her again to identify the letter she had copied. "What letter did you make?" And finally, I congratulated her on her accomplishment, "Good job! You made the letter ____!"

This was a fun learning activity - and it gave me an idea. I really liked the concept of the pages; however there were a few things I disliked about them. I also had some ideas of how to make the pages a little more functional...so I have begun making my own. The kids and I are pretty excited about them and I hope to be finished soon so I can share them with you too!

In the meantime, if you do not have a similar set of protected pages, you could try reusing a clear plastic lid. Cut the edges off of the lid. Draw or print the alphabet on plain sheets of paper. Then place your clear lid over the letter you would like to teach your child about. Or maybe tape a sheet of plastic wrap to the table [with blue painter's tape - or another easily removable tape], leaving a space to slide your letter pages underneath. I'm sure you could do this exercise directly on your paper too...I imagine your play dough may stick a bit though. [I haven't tried any of these...they are just ideas. Let me know if you do & how they worked out.]

The Schooltime Skirmish

Does anyone else encounter this battle with their children?

My first child generally loves learning and looks forward to the time we spend together during our "school" hours. My second child does not share that sentiment. Educating her often feels like a battle.

She is strong-willed and very independent. A few days ago, I spent all day working on one lesson with her. It was simple, and she completely understood it, and once she was finally willing to participate, she completed it in a matter of less than 20 minutes. But she just flat out refuses to cooperate.

Sometimes, as much as I enjoy teaching my kids and watching them learn, I would rather just be mom. I spend enough time as it is in conflict with the kids, reminding them to pick up toys...make their beds...stop bickering...quit whining...eat their lunch. Do I need to/want to be the daily education enforcer too? It exhausts me.

Recently, after one of those days my child refused to finish school work, [this time, my older child] my husband suggested sending the kids to a public school.

I feel defeated.

Are these just the hard days...the hurdles and bumps that are bound to be met and need to be navigated to move forward? Won't they be encountered regardless of what academic choices we make?

I don't expect to be the best qualified teacher for my kids all throughout their education.  But I was once relatively confident that I was competent to school my 3 year old. Surely I don't need to send her to school to learn colors and letters and shapes and numbers...

Maybe I'm not a poor teacher...maybe I'm a poor parent, since I can't get my stubborn preschool age child to comply. I can't really pass off that responsibility to a classroom education - that will always be mine.

Selfishly, I hope some of you other moms have days like this...days when the work of simply reminding, and instructing and refereeing and holding and listening and responding to each little voice at any given moment feels far more difficult a task than it actually is. I hope someone else has days when they feel outnumbered and overwhelmed; when the very thought of the collective energy their children possess exhausts them, when they just really want to say "yes"...and "thank you", rather than "no!" and "stop that!".  Then maybe I can take courage that I am not slipping quickly out of control, but I've found myself in the heat of a battle I must be willing to win...not for my own victory, but for their best interest.

I'd rather feed them a cookie, flip on a movie and be the most favorite mom ever!
But reason tells me, we'd all loose if I raise a white flag at this point.

Well, I've spent enough time avoiding the front line...I'm going to crawl out of my trench now
[...and press on until nap time. :) ].

Jan Brett Play Masks

I made these masks for my kids nearly four years ago, and we are still playing with them!

Even baby gets in on the action!

Author and illustrator, Jan Brett provides a wide variety of free animal images on her web site for this project.

We chose several animals from different books and printed them onto lightweight card stock. After carefully cutting along the edges [I also opted to cut out the eyes, so my children could peek through, but you don't have to], I laminated them and then used clear packing tape to attach each mask to an over-sized wooden craft stick [which you can find at most craft/hobby supply stores]. 

You do not need to laminate the masks, but I highly recommend it if you desire to play with them for awhile. If you do not have access to a laminating machine, you might consider using this process to protect your masks using clear packing tape. You could also punch holes on both sides of the mask and tie elastic string to the back, so your child can wear the mask.*

The animals we liked best were the:

monkey,

jaguar,

fox,

cat,

rabbit,

owl,

badger,

bear,

and mouse.

But there are so many more to choose from!

Jan offers many other free activities and printables on her site.  A few of my other favorites are her coloring murals, her coloring alphabets and alphabet tracers, and her matching animals game. There are LOTS of fun things to do...all available for free. If you have never visited her site, I recommend taking a minute or two to browse her pages; I'm sure you will find something you and your kids can enjoy together.

*[just be sure he/she has space to breathe and see to prevent injury]

President's Day Coloring Pages

Crayola provides a variety of presidential coloring pages for kids.

Abraham Lincoln:

George Washington:

Also:

Happy Birthday, Presidents!

George Washington

US Presidents

Valentine's Day Project

In the spirit of loving, my children and I crafted a fun project. 

We call it our "prayer chain", but you can call it whatever you would like to.

We wrote down names of people we know on strips of paper and linked them together.  Each evening at bedtime the kids tear off the end link of their chain and pray for that person.  As they get older, I would like to have them send an encouraging note or thoughtful gift to each person...maybe next year.   :)

For this project, you will need:
- strips of scrap paper - any color you choose.
- glue or tape
- pen, pencil or marker to write with

First, cut your paper into strips of similar length and width [no need to be precise for this activity].  I used blue for my son and pink for my daughter.

Then have your child[ren] write out names of people they know on the strips, such as family, friends, classmates or teammates, etc.  If you have younger children, you can write out the names for them or enlist your older children to help their younger siblings by writing them down.  Each strip should have only one name written on it.

Begin creating your chain by bending one strip of paper so that the two ends meet together.  Glue or tape the paper together at the ends, forming a circle.  You will continue to form "links" with each piece of paper, by looping the paper through the end link before forming and gluing your paper circle.  Once all your paper strips have been chained together, find a fun place to hang your chain. My children have a white board in their room where they can display all their art projects...so this was a perfect place for us to hang our chains.

Spend some time with your kids remembering to love the people who have been placed in your lives.

Following a Recipe

I admit...I am a terrible recipe follower. 

Not because I can't.  I just don't. I always "have" to add just a little something...or cut an ingredient, or tweak a step just a bit. I don't leave well enough alone very often. 

My son has been practicing sequencing lately as part of his reading comprehension.  His last few projects involved reading a recipe and labeling the placement of each step within that recipe.  So his page looked something like this:

Directions for making Peanut Butter Cracker Cookies:

Get out your crackers and peanut butter. Put peanut butter on half of the crackers and then cover with the other half. Melt chocolate. Dip the cracker sandwiches into chocolate with a fork or spoon. Let the chocolate drip from the cracker into the bowl. Cool cookies on wax paper.  Eat the cookies! 

Fill in the blanks with a number to tell the order of each step in the recipe.

______ Dip the crackers in chocolate.

______ Put peanut butter on the crackers.

______ Eat the cookies!

______ Get our your peanut butter.

______ Melt the chocolate.

______ Cool the cookies.


I thought it would be fun to actually MAKE some cookies as part of his assignment...so we did! 

+

=

[Yum!]

And we had lots of fun making them.  He was so excited!  Afterward, he told me it was [and I quote]: "Waaaaay too much fun, Mom.  I forgot I even had a Wii!" [Hahahahaha!  That just cracks me up.]

Of course, I HAD to modify the recipe...but in the spirit of learning to follow directions, we did follow all the steps.  I just added sprinkles on top at the end. :)

Once we had coated all of our cookies, we had some chocolate leftover, so we found a bag of pretzels and dipped them in too!  Yum! 

Here is a link to a recipe for similar cookies.*  You could simplify just about any recipe and do this exercise with your kids...they might even have so much fun they forget all about that Wii, or _________ [you fill in the blank with whatever they love to play with].


*[Since Ritz and most peanut butters contain hydrogenated oils, we found similar "healthier" crackers and peanut butter in the natural food section of our grocery store...and they tasted just as great!]

April is here!

[Well...in printable calendar form, anyway.]